A YOUNG mum was left stranded in Accrington after being told she couldn't get on a bus because her child's buggy happened to be the "wrong type".

But a Lancashire United bus company director said the decision to prohibit certain buggies and pushchairs on the vehicles was purely for health and safety reasons.

Victoria Saunders, 20, of Blackburn Road, West End, Oswaldtwistle, had been using the bus into Accrington for three months without being challenged by a driver.

But on Saturday, she was set to head for home when the driver of the Number One bus said she was not supposed to take her three-wheeled buggy on board.

So she was forced to contact her partner, Richard Pollard, to ask if he could pick her up along with their two children, two-year-old Ben and eight-week-old Charlotte.

She said: "I think it's a ridiculous rule. Luckily Richard could come and pick me up but he is a policeman in Burnley so it's not that easy for him to just pop out of work.

"I just want other mums to know what to expect if they are out shopping.''

A Lancashire United leaflet entitled Buggies Aboard states which type of buggies are permitted and which are not.

The modern three-wheeled buggies are not classed as stable enough for the bus journey, a rule which Lancashire United commercial development director David Wilson said could be reviewed.

He told the Observer: "The main problem is with passenger safety, both for the people with the buggies and other passengers.

"Often parents will put shopping bags on the buggies, making the three-wheeled ones even more unstable, and we are very concerned about that. An inspector will visit Miss Saunders and take a look at the buggy before taking a view on whether we need to review our current rules."